virtualbox.org

Alright Guys,

I have been trying to set up a VM Image of an ex colleagues machine before the format and rebuild. I am using the VMWare Converter to create the image and the Oracle VMBox software to run the image.

I have set up multiple VM's previously with no issues. I have now gone through the settings hundreds of times in my head and i cannot spot any issues which is why this is making me want to SCREAM! (we have all been there)

The issues is the machine will not boot in VMBox. It gets to the windows 7 start up page and crashes every time resulting in the dreaded BSOD.

The only reason for it to fail that i can currently think of is the set up of the physical machine that has been imaged. It is set up in a RAID configuration, i believe RAID-0. Is anyone aware if this is going to make a difference? As far as i am aware if it is striping (RAID-0) then surely the converter should simply image it as a single hard drive and there should be no problems?

Any ideas would be hugely appreciated as this one has me stumped!!

Cheers.

First things first, what is the BSOD code?

Also, VMWare Converter may not be the best choice unless you plan to run the VM on VMWare. Disk2VHD can do a similar job but definitely doesn't install VMWare specific drivers.

And yes, any hardware difference can potentially cause a crash. The hardware simulated by a VM will be very different from the physical PC it previously ran on.

Finally, I assume you're aware that Win7 will ask to be reactivated when it sees all that "hardware" has changed?

Cheers for the response!

The machine is displaying the "BSOD 7B" message. Due to this i would have though my best bet would be booting the VM in safe mode and attempt to repair the faulty drivers but unfortunately no luck as once again i hit the "BSOD 7B".

I understand this is not the best converter to be using if you are not running the VM on VMWare Workstation but it is one of the better converters and i have used it to convert 2 other machines. The only difference between these other machines and the one i am currently working on is the duel HDD with the RAID config.

I am aware and it is no issue having to activate Win7 again if i can get the bloody thing to BOOT
Jordan

Stop code 0x7B is the "can't find boot device" error, usually it's because the disk controller type has changed. Try selecting an IDE controller in the VM settings.

I will give this a try and let you know the results, only thing that has me skeptical is i know it is SATA controller in the physical machine.
Cheers

Unfortunately as i expected same situation.

Any other ideas??

Cheers,
Jordan

It doesn't matter what your physical machine had, since it's unlikely that the VM has the same SATA chipset. What you're aiming for is to select a controller type that the Windows image already has native drivers for. That usually means IDE.

0x7B is still the "boot disk not found" error. Windows either doesn't like the controller or doesn't like the disk. I don't use VMWare Converter so I can't be sure you've used it correctly. It's important with any disk imager to image the entire disk, not a partition. That's particularly important in the Win7 case because it uses multiple partitions with the boot manager in one and Windows itself in the other.